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First, it is #IndiePrideDay where thousands of independent authors take over social media with pictures of themselves holding up their books. If you are an Indie author or support Indie authors, please join us.

Second, it is the annual July Winter/Summer Sale at Smashwords. I’m sure many of you are thinking – but summer just started. Well, in the Southern Hemisphere they’re having their winter session. Smashwords authors are located around the globe. Thousands of Smashers are putting their eBooks for sale at 25%, 50%, or 75% off their original price. You will find a ton of free eBooks, too! Just use the coupon code when you check out. I’m looking forward to adding even more eBooks into my collection.

Thank God for the internet! This is how I came to meetVanessa Finaughtythrough her Facebook groupA Smashwords Book for Everyone.Although we never meet in person due to the fact that I live in the United States and she lives in South Africa, I respect her as a gifted author and wonderful woman.

Her book Legends of Origin 1 – Sanctuary for the Devil had me hooked on the first paragraph as I greedily devoured the pages. I’m hoping that someday she may continue the story in Book 4, pretty please, Vanessa. Her other books are also awesome because I have read the majority – no horror for Pamela the Wimp!

Without further ado, Vanessa interview:

When did you start writing and why?

I’ve been writing ever since I can remember, from when I was a young child. I write because the stories are there, in my head, and I want others to enjoy them as much as I do, and because I’m generally unable to ‘see’ the end of the story if I don’t start writing the first scenes. There’s also the fact that, if I’m not writing, I’m not truly content.

How do you get your ideas for your books?

Most of my stories start with a single scene that pops into my head and plays like a movie. If I start writing that scene, more of the story ‘appears like magic’ in my head and I write it. Sometimes I need to embellish and add explanations, and there are times I get stuck or have to ‘make it up as I go’, but the main story and the characters are usually ‘just there’. There are some stories, however, which were planned, and those ideas were based on things I had seen or heard – it could be anything, from a personal experience that was out of the ordinary, a comment someone made or something I heard in the news, to people’s attitudes toward certain things, problems the world is facing today and even conspiracy theories.

Why did you choose to become an indie author?

To say I’m impatient by nature is an understatement – when indie publishing, I don’t have to wait as long to publish the final edited book. Once everything is ready, you can publish, but, with traditional publishers, you are not their only author, which means that there can be a long wait between when your book is ready and when it is published, and it can also take a lot longer to get it ready in the first place. I’m also a bit of a control freak when it comes to my books; while I agree that one should always listen to (and usually take) the advice of professionals, I don’t like the idea of a stranger having final say in anything regarding my books – i.e. my babies! To me, that’s almost as bad as someone trying to dictate how I raise my child.

Do you have any upcoming projects?

Yes. At the moment, I’ve almost finished writing Wizard of Ends, Book 3: Mountains of Eclador. There are two more chapters to write, then my self-edits, and then off to my editor. Once that’s been sent to my editor, I plan to start writing Book 4 in the series. I’m also currently working on a big project for a local university, but I can’t say more about that yet due to the need for confidentiality at this stage of the project.

There is so much controversy over the Kindle Direct Publishing Select program; some authors think that it’s that best thing to happen since the internet, and other authors say not to put all your eggs in one basket. In case you do not know what KDP Select is, it is when an author enrolls their eBook and they can only sell it on Amazon, therefore they have to take off their eBook everywhere else. The readers can get your book free for a limited time and/or there is a limited time promotional discounting for the book. The author’s book is enrolled in the Kindle Unlimited subscription program (like Netflix but for books) and the author gets a 70% royalty for sales in other countries when normally the percentages are much lower.

I can understand why full-time writers and fiction authors may want to enroll when Amazon controls a large percentage of the eBook market. They are going where the majority of book sales are and could get higher earnings. I might do the same if I was in their shoes, but I am an Indie nonfiction author. My eBooks are to educate the public, they are my “Digital Business Cards,” and help get interest in the services that are my money maker. Here are my five reasons that I choose not to go into the KDP Select program:

Today, Indie authors around the planet are bombarding social media with pictures of themselves and their books. It is so amazing to see the support from readers all over social media too, please support an Indie author! Indie authors decided to honor their writing because they did not want to spend years to find an agent and/or publisher. They refused to let a publisher tell them how to write their book, choose their book cover, give them a small percentage of profits, and do very little promoting of their book.

My photo journey to find a photo I like was an adventure. My partner and I went to Crotan Point in Cedar Point, NC on a very humid day. He is very patient because we took a zillion pictures, before I found one that I liked – just like a woman not to like any pictures of herself!

One of the many bridges in Crotan Point.

I used this photo in my Twitter header a long time ago ~ @RevPamela

My partner liked this picture, my father and niece preferred the top one. I thought it was okay.

The Crazy Cat Lady inside of me had to get pictures of my fur babies to Rhiannon’s horror! They do not make a photo session easy!